Kissick Construction is a full-service construction company with the resources to handle large, multi-disciplined projects in-house while providing personal service every step of the way. From the beginning of every project to the last detail, their focus is quality. Principals Jim Kissick and Pete Browne (above) their company on that principle of quality, and continue that commitment to client satisfaction, adhering to the ideals that every job must be completed on time, with master workmanship and attention to detail. Kissick Construction Company was founded in 1994 by Jim Kissick III and Pete Browne. They believed then–and still do today–that success is result of treating others fairly and with respect, hiring and retaining talented people, and never saying “we can’t” to a client. Since then the firm has grown to manage 100 million dollar single projects and has developed a strong reputation for providing innovative thinking to solve engineering challenges.
This proud tradition of service is rooted in their extended history (above), which goes back to 1896 when James H. Kissick started Kissick Transfer Company, an equipment hauling business in Kansas City. His two sons, Lloyd Kissick, Sr. and Robert, formed the Imperial Transfer & Storage Company in 1915, having both grown up working in their father’s firm. Primarily a hauling company, the young company also offered warehouse storage, intra-urban bus service and road oiling. This business was located in a building at 19th and Central. As Kansas City grew — so did opportunities for all facets of the operation. In 1922, they spun off the road oiling work with Lloyd Sr. forming Kissick Construction Company. The firm expanded into the road grading business across the Midwestern states. The 1940’s and 1950’s post war expansion saw the development of cities and highways. Kissick Construction was a key player in this work, adding asphalt and concrete plants to their road and grading operations. Lloyd Kissick Sr., with his trademark stogie, was a leader of Kansas City’s construction industry. In 1950 he was the president of the Associated General Contractors of Missouri. In the same year he was also the first president of the Heavy Constructors Association of Kansas City and subsequently served three consecutive terms. Today Jim Kissick III, grandson of the senior Lloyd Kissick, and Pete Browne, great-grandson, continue to serve the greater Kansas City area as respected contractors. They have sharpened their focus in heavy civil work – earthwork, utilities, structural concrete and foundation piling.
Tell us about some interesting projects you’ve been involved with recently.
We just finished a project in Kansas City, Kan., for the company Fairbanks Morris. We built a 35-foot deep concrete structure in the middle of their 400,000 square foot plant. The structure is a water holding tank so the large pumps can be performance tested. The challenge for us was to build the expansion without interrupting their production and testing schedule. Their plant is currently working 6 days a week with 3 shifts a day to meet their production quotas. Our work involved engineered shoring, excavation, structural concrete and structural steel work. Our team successfully met the challenge – we finished ahead of schedule and Fairbanks Morris met their production quotas for the period. In regards to other projects, the stimulus funding has allowed for us to complete a variety of public works projects for various municipalities in the metro area. We are currently working for the Cities of Roeland Park, Prairie Village, Atchison, Belton and Shawnee for utility upgrades. While most of this work ends up being underground and you cannot see our product, we are thankful to have the work to keep our teams busy.
With the economic slow down, how did you navigate through these tough times?
Because we provide a wide scope of civil and industrial services, we get contacted on a lot of projects – which has helped us weather the economic downturn. We have widened the geographic range of our full service work – completing work in Nebraska, Iowa, and Oklahoma in addition to Missouri and Kansas. Also, we are always available for to provide budgeting, value engineering and providing pre-construction services, which helps keep us in front of our current clients and potential new clients. We’ve used the time to strengthen the relationships with our clients, vendors and subcontractors. We believe the construction environment will turn around in the near future. We are using the down time to strengthen our reputation within the construction industry in order to position us for the upcoming opportunities.
What are still the major challenges facing you and others in your industry?
A major challenge for us in the construction industry is educating clients about the value of hiring experienced and honorable contractors. Often developers, general contractors and industrial clients may consider pricing from a firm that does not have the experience on a particular project or has not included all the items that the client has requested. As I tell prospective clients regarding particularly challenging jobs – “this is what we do every day” – and I mean it. We can accomplish their goals because we have been there and done it before.
What new opportunities are out there?
Tough question in this market. Most of the work is coming through the federal stimulus projects. While traditionally our revenues have been 80% private and 20% public work—we are almost flipped now with the majority of our working coming from public utilities and clients.
What would you say is your niche?
Our niche is that we self-perform our work—meaning we complete our work with our own staff of professionals. When we subcontract work items that we do not self-perform, we tend to subcontract to the same short list of vendors we have used over and over—and we regard them as part of the Kissick team as well. We stand out in the industry because of our reputation as a consummate team player. The attitude of all of our employees is one of cooperation. As a team player, we will work around any and all obstacles that we can in order to keep the project team on track and the project successful for all involved. This approach has allowed Kissick Construction Company to be selective in our volume of work and has assured us a high level of client satisfaction over the years.
Tell us something about Kissick that most people don’t know.
We self-perform a wide scope of heavy/civil/industrial/concrete services, including engineered shoring systems, foundation piling, earthwork and utility systems, structural concrete and flatwork. Many of our clients or prospective clients know us for only one discipline or another, and may not know all of our capabilities. We host lunch and learns for engineers, architects, developers, general contractors and industrial clients routinely to share with everyone our capabilities and wealth of experience, and to promote how contracting the civil/foundation work together (shoring, piling, earthwork and concrete foundations) really benefits the project schedule and overall cost.
We heard you are both Rockhurst grads and have a fun attitude in both your personal and professional lives.
Yes, we are both are native Kansas Citians and Rockhurst High School graduates who have working in the construction industry our entire careers. Jim’s background is 40 years of earthwork, utility and road improvement and site development work. Pete has 25 years experience in civil and concrete work in heavy industrial (manufacturing, power automotive) plant work. We have a long working relationship and genuinely enjoy a commitment to provide quality service to our Kansas City client base. We think work is fun!